ALITTLE under a year ago, I wasnot in favor of any gun control.That will come as a shock to those who know me as someone politically a little to the left of Mike Gravel, but a combination of a passion for civil liberties, loyalty to the Constitution, and half of my family actually owning those dogs that point at quail before you shoot them (and owning them for that very reason) made me wary of any restrictions on firearms. And then I spent a day making sure all my friends, and friends of friends, and families of friends were alive, and all that changed.
I'm still not a big advocate of gun control; I don't think safety locks should be required; and I'm not a big fan of waiting periods. I think if you want a gun and have proven yourself responsible enough to own a gun, then as a citizen of the United States, being able to own a gun is your guaranteed right. However, there are some people who have forfeited that right.
Prior to April 16th, those people consisted solely of criminals who had been involved in violent crimes. After April 16th, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine passed a law which also barred those who had been deemed by a judge mentally unfit to own a gun. Under this new law, someone like Seung-Hui Cho would now not be able to purchase a gun, unless he or she purchased it at a gun show.
The so-called "gun show loophole" refers to the fact that guns sold at shows can be sold without a standard background check. Current federal law requires that all firearms dealers involved in interstate commerce or in the business of selling firearms run a background check before they sell a weapon to a prospective customer. However, individual gun sellers not in the firearms business do not have to procure a license. This means that absolutely anyone can buy a gun off a private seller at a gun show, no questions asked.
Yet on Jan. 23, a bill that would have required background checks for buyers at gun shows was voted down by the Virginia Senate 9-6. Among those opposing the measure was Sen. John S. Edwards, D-Roanoke, whose district includes Virginia Tech. Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, who usually doesn't support gun control but said, "I think it's important that in the end, we respond in some fashion to the tragedy at Virginia Tech," even proposed a compromise. Under the agreement, those authorized to carry a concealed weapon, those buying antique weapons and even those purchasing guns right outside of the rented gun show area would have been exempted from background checks, yet the measure still failed.
What really surprises me about this issue is that it should be a non-partisan no-brainer. This is not a question of encroaching on an American citizen's right to own a gun: It's a plain and simple, cut and dry issue of making sure those who have demonstrated they should not be in possession of a gun cannot buy one. There are plenty of similar laws in existence in this country. If you drive drunk, your license will be suspended; those previously accused of pedophilia have to inform their neighbors; ex-criminals can't vote. If none of those laws have exceptions or loopholes, why should this one?
"If I own a piece of property, I am free to sell it," Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League
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